Eating large amounts of fruits and vegetables is linked to lung cancer risk

The results were surprising: young non-smokers who eat better than average are more likely to develop the disease. This raises new questions about possible risk factors associated with even seemingly healthy foods. One possible explanation is the influence of the environment, in particular pesticides. Scientists note that conventional (non-organic) fruits, vegetables and whole grains may contain more chemical residues than dairy products, meats and some processed foods. This hypothesis is also supported by the fact that agricultural workers who regularly come into contact with pesticides are more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer.

The study also found gender differences: among young non-smokers, women are more likely to get sick than men. At the same time, women on average consumed more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Traditionally, lung cancer has been associated with older age (on average the disease is diagnosed at 71 years), smoking and male gender. Despite a decline in smoking rates since the 1980s and an overall decrease in the number of cases of the disease, among non-smokers under 50 years of age – especially among women – there is an increase in incidence.

To understand the reasons for this trend, scientists launched a project to study lung cancer in young people. It involved 187 patients whose disease was diagnosed before age 50. Participants provided data on their lifestyle, diet, smoking, and medical history. Most of them had never smoked, and the types of cancer diagnosed in them were different from those usually associated with smoking. It has also previously been shown that people under 40 years of age have different subtypes of the disease than older patients.

Dietary quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) on a scale of 1 to 100. Among young non-smoking lung cancer patients, the average score was 65, higher than the national average (57). However, in women this figure was, as a rule, higher than in men. In addition, study participants on average ate more vegetables, legumes and whole grains than the typical US person: about 4.3 servings of dark green vegetables and legumes and 3.9 servings of whole grains per day, compared with the national average of 3.6 and 2.6 servings, respectively.